A friend was giving away his copy of this book and I took it to read about Tom Greenwade whose photo is on the cover. Greenwade was the Yankee scout who signed Mickey Mantle.
I read part of the beginning but looked up Greenwade in the index and skipped to page 73. There wasn't much on him especially considering his photo is on the book cover.
Pages 74-75:
"... serious ailment. Mantle suffered polio as a youngster"
Mantle suffered from osteomyelitis:
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Mickey-Mantle/
Mickey also loved to play football, but an injury early in his freshman year of high school prematurely ended his budding pigskin career – and almost his life. During a football practice he was kicked in the lower leg by a teammate. Within hours his ankle had swollen to three times its normal size, and he developed a 104-degree fever. His parents took the 14-year-old to the local hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with osteomyelitis, a potentially fatal bone disease that had been aggravated by the injury. Doctors told the Mantles that they had to amputate the leg to save the child’s life.
Mickey’s parents sought a second opinion at the Crippled Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. Doctors there agreed that he had osteomyelitis, but they had a much less drastic treatment plan: eight shots a day of a new wonder drug called penicillin. Within a week the swelling in Mickey’s ankle dissipated, and he was soon back in sports. His football career was over, but his baseball life was just beginning.
____________________________
This book by Lowenfish is the only place I've seen where polio is mentioned as afflicting Mickey Mantle.
Did Mickey Mantle have polio? Link:
AI Overview
No, Mickey Mantle did not have polio. He was famously troubled by severe leg and bone issues in his youth and throughout his career, but the condition was osteomyelitis, not polio.
___________________________
My own 2015 post here where I used the same photo as that on the book by Lowenfish:
Mickey Mantle: what if he'd played for the Dodgers? They might still be in Brooklyn. Monday, August 17, 2015
________________________
Note 1: I do not know why Greenwade is credited with signing Pee Wee Reese since the Greenwade SABR bio clearly states that Greenwade joined the Dodgers in 1940. SABR bio on Reese by Rob Edelman:
... midway through the 1939 campaign, the Red Sox sold Reese to the Brooklyn Dodgers ...
___________________________
Lowenfish makes that mistake too:
Page 74:
Greenwade "was involved in the signing of ... and Pee Wee Reese, who was playing for Louisville in the Red Sox organization."
*** The End ***
No comments:
Post a Comment